Porter was described in an affidavit as the inside man in the heist because he worked in the casino's surveillance room and had keys and electronic access to three security doors to the vault.

Weitzel acted as the "handoff woman," playing slots in the casino until Porter gave her his keys, at which point she put on a disguise that included a wig and sunglasses and handed the keys to Collins, who dressed as a casino security officer and wore a hat and glasses to disguise himself, the affidavit said.

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The suspects went through a dress rehearsal the night before the theft at the casino, authorities said. Porter manipulated security cameras even though it wasn't in his job duties, the affidavit said.

On the day of the robbery, Collins used the keys to get past one security door, but when the keys wouldn't open the two other doors, Porter opened them from the surveillance control room, state Department of Justice Special Agent Clyde Raborn wrote in the affidavit.

When he was inside a caged security room, Collins "crawled, squatted and worked his way to the closed vault door" because a casino employee was also inside, wrote Raborn, who works for the division of gambling control. Weitzel called the employee and "distracted him with a four-minute conversation," asking him about cashing a check at the casino, the affidavit said.

Collins opened the vault and put $198,000 in cash into a duffel bag, Raborn wrote. A review of surveillance footage, which included audio, revealed that Collins was breathing heavily and at one point said "shut up" into a wireless receiver plugged into his ear, the affidavit said.

Collins, a local rapper also known as "Manifest" and "Pistol Pete," asked, "Am I clear to go out?" before handing the keys to Weitzel -- a former Humboldt State University softball player -- and driving off with the money, authorities said.

Authorities identified the suspects in part by tracing Porter's phone records, court records show. Investigators learned that just weeks before the heist, Weitzel and Collins changed their address from a home in McKinleyville (Humboldt County) to one in Marysville, Wash. A search of that home uncovered a briefcase with $151,495 under their bed, the affidavit said.